NORMAN, Okla. -- Oklahoma begins its 113th
season of football competition when it hosts North
Texas. The Sooners are opening at home for the fifth
consecutive season and for the eighth time in Bob Stoops’ nine
seasons. The game is slated for 6 p.m. on Saturday
with a national telecast on FOX Sports Net.
The game is a sellout.

This marks the seventh meeting between OU and UNT.
Oklahoma has won the previous six, all in Norman, including
four season openers. The Sooners scored 37 points against
the Mean Green in each of the last three meetings,
including a 37-3 win in the most recent, Aug. 30, 2003.

The Coaches
Oklahoma: Bob Stoops (Iowa ‘83) is 86-19 in his
ninth season with the Sooners. He is 4-4 in bowls,
3-4 in January Bowls, 2-3 in BCS games, 49-10 vs. the
Big 12, 27-7 vs. the Big 12 South, 22-3 vs. the Big
12 North, 3-1 in the Big 12 title game, 26-6 vs. non-conference
opponents, 41-2 at home, 21-8 on the road, 14-8 on
neutral fields and 22-7 vs. ranked opponents.
UNT: Todd Dodge (Texas ‘87) is in his first year
as a college head coach.

The Program
• Oklahoma’s all-time record stands at
768-292-53.
• The Sooners own seven national championships
(1950, 1955, 1956, 1974, 1975, 1985, 2000).
• OU has 40 bowl appearances (No. 7 nationally)
with 24 victories (No. 3 nationally).
• Oklahoma has won 40 conference titles.
• Since WWII, Oklahoma is the most success college
football program with 524 victories.
• Some 142 All-Americans and four Heisman Trophy
winners have come from the Oklahoma program.

This
Week’s Opponent
• North Texas is under first-year college head
coach and former Texas quarterback Todd Dodge. Dodge,
most recently was a high successful coach at Carroll
HS in Southlake, texas, still ranks No. 9 on Texas’ all-time
list for passing yards (2,791) and touchdown passes
(19). He played for the Longhorns from 1981-85 when
UT was 2-2-1 against Oklahoma. Oklahoma can attest
to the success of high school transitions -- Sooner
women’s basketball coach Sherri Coale came to
OU from Norman HS.
• The Mean Green won’t play at home until
Sept. 22 when it hosts Florida Atlantic in a Sun Belt
Conference game. Next week the squad will be at SMU.
• North Texas is located in Denton and has an
enrollment of 33,500 students.

Ties With This Week’s Opponent
• There are five Okies on the Mean Green roster
-- DE Blake Burruss from Oklahoma City, DB Robbie Gordon
from Ardmore, DB Dominque Green from Lawton, DB Ellis
Knight from Ardmore and K Steve Woodward from Tulsa.
• North Texas defensive line and special teams
coach Robert Drake mentored OU kicker Garrett Hartley
during Hartley’s prep career at Southlake HS.
• UNT defensive coordinator and linebackers coach
Ron Mendoza has ties to Oklahoma. He played the first
two years of his college career at Cameron University
in Lawton.
• OU offensive guard Brandon Walker was teammates
with two UNT players at Coffeyville (Kan.) Community
College. The two are DB Roy Loren and QB Wilson Woody.
• Former Oklahoma softball All-American Erin
Evans is now an assistant softball coach at UNT. Evans
started as an outfielder for the Sooners from 2000-03.

For Openers
Oklahoma is 85-21-6 in season openers, including a
52-9-5 record in Norman.
• The Sooners saw a string of seven straight
season-opening victories halted in 2005 with a 17-10
loss to TCU. Prior to that, OU had not lost an opener
since a 24-0 setback to Northwestern at Chicago’s
Soldier Field in 1997. The last two openers OU lost
at home both came to TCU, the other was in 1996, 20-7.
• Bob Stoops is 7-1 in openers, including a 6-1
mark on Owen Field. Oklahoma’s six season-opening
victories under its current head coach were won by
an average score of 40-13.
• OU is 44-8-5 when playing its opener at Gaylord
Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.

Stoops' Openers
1999: Josh Heupel set school records with five touchdown
passes and 31 completions in Bob Stoops’ first
game, a 49-0 win over Indiana State.
2000: The highest recorded temperature for an OU football
game hit 106 degrees. Renaldo Works scored the first
three touchdowns of his career in a 55-14 win over
UTEP.
2001: Big plays included an 88-yard kickoff return
by Antwone Savage, a 47-yard interception return by
Derrick Strait and a 12-yard fumble return by Rocky
Calmus, all for TDs, as OU whipped North Carolina,
41-27.
2002: Antonio Perkins, in his first game as punt returner,
logged the third-longest return in OU history with
a 91-yarder for a TD in a 37-0 win at Tulsa. Quentin
Griffin rushed for 237 yards.
2003: The first-game in the expanded stadium was also
the first for Jason White after his second knee surgery.
Jejuan Rankins became the second player in school history
to score a touchdown on his first career reception.
The Sooners thrashed North Texas, 37-3.
2004: Kejuan Jones (148) and Adrian Peterson (100)
both eclipsed the century mark in rushing yards in
a 40-24 win over Bowling Green.
2005: The No. 7-ranked Sooners lost three fumbles and
dropped a 17-10 decision to a TCU team that would go
on to post a mark of 11-1.
2006: Adrian Peterson sprinted 69 yards with a short
swing pass to score the final touchdown in Oklahoma’s
24-17 victory over a stubborn UAB team. It was the
only touchdown reception of Peterson’s Sooner
career.

South of the Border Success
Bob Stoops is 32-7 against teams from the state of
Texas, including a 17-1 mark in Norman.

The Sooners Briefly
• Oklahoma was tabbed for a second-place finish
in the Big 12’s South Division in a preseason
polling of league media. Defensive back Reggie Smith
was named the league's preseason defensive player of
the year.
• There are 34 players on this team with previous
experience as a starter for OU. That’s up from
10 from the same time last season.
• Last season, OU was 10-3 overall and 7-1 in
the Big 12 South. The Sooners won their fourth Big
12 crown and 40th league title overall before advancing
to the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.

Home Field Honchos
Oklahoma is 47-2 at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial
Stadium under Bob Stoops and has won its last 11 in
a row there and 31 of its last 32. During Stoops’s
tenure, which included home winning streaks of 19 and
17 games, OU has registered six shutouts on Owen Field.

TV, TV and More TV
The last 55 Oklahoma games have been televised. A very
small number of those were carried on a pay-per-view
or tape-delayed basis, but the vast majority were either
over the air or on cable through widely recognized
networks.

Non-Cons
Bob Stoops is 29-8 vs. non-league foes, 24-4 in regular
season non-league games and 20-1 in non-conference
home games.

Noteable Rules Changes
• Timing rules have reverted to 2005 standards.
• Kickoffs will occur from the 30-yardline unless
relocated by penalty.
• These situations now added to reviewable instant
replays -- series of downs, bench inteference and whether
a kicked ball was caught or muffed.

Record-Setting Attendance Numbers
With 507,366 in attendance for home games in 2006,
Oklahoma has drawn 3,905,029 for Bob Stoops’ 49
home games (started in 1999).
• All 49 have been sold out and the Sooners have
prevailed 47 times.
• Last year’s average home attendance of
84,561 was the largest in school history. The top seven
seasons for OU home attendance have come on Stoops’ watch.
• The crowd of 85,313 for the ‘06 Texas
Tech game was the largest ever to see a sporting event
in the state of Oklahoma.
• OU has exceeded its listed capacity of 82,112
in 23 consecutive games.

About the Sooner Offense

• Under
Stoops, Oklahoma has produced its career leader in
passing and receiving, while turning out the No. 3-
and No. 4-ranked rusher in school history and the school
record holder for single-season rushing.
• OU has scored at lest one touchdown in every
game dating back to Nov. 7, 1998.
• Under Stoops, OU has rushed for 200 yards 32
times, including 26 over the last four seasons.
• Also under Stoops, OU has 103 touchdowns of
25-plus yards and 220 scoring drives that took less
than two minutes.
• OU’s 2006 team missed perfect offensive
balance by just 202 yards (2,682 passing, 2,480 rushing).
The 2005 team missed it by just one yard and the 2003
squad was off by only 160.

Bradford Gets Nod at Quarterback
Three players competed through the spring and first
three weeks of August before redshirt freshman Sam
Bradford earned the starting job. His back-ups are
junior Joey Halzle and true freshman Keith Nichol.
Bradford is the 53rd QB at OU (dating back in records
era to 1938) and the 20th to make his first start in
an opener.
• Bradford is a certified Cherokee Indian. His
great, great grandmother (father’s side) was
Susie Walkingstick. Oklahoma is home to more Native
Americans (250,000+) than any other state.
• Bradford’s father, Kent, was an offensive
lineman at OU. He lettered in 1977 and 1978.

First QB Starts in the Season Opener
• The best passing total by a first-time OU starter
was set by Josh Heupel in 1999 when the junior threw
for 353 yards in a 49-0 win over Indiana State. He
eclipsed Garrick McGee, another junior, who threw for
276 in a 30-29 victory over Syracuse in 1999.
• The best passing total by a freshman QB in a
season opener was 143 by Eric Moore in 1995 when the
redshirt lifted OU to a 38-22 win over San Diego State.
• OU is 14-5 when a quarterback makes his first
career start in an opener.
• Oklahoma has won 19 games and been to a pair
of bowls over the last two seasons, yet neither time
did it enter the campaign with a quarterback of much
starting note. The 2005 season featured two that entered
the season with no starts and the 2006 season featured
a QB with one. OU has won four Big 12 titles with four
different quarterbacks -- Josh Heupel (2000), Nate
Hybl (2002), Jason White (2004) and Paul Thompson (2006).

O-Line of Historical Proportions
With an average height of nearly 6-5 (76.8 inches)
and 316.6 pounds this is one of the biggest offensive
lines in Oklahoma history. During the Stoops era (since
1999) this is the heaviest line. The 2004 line tipped
the scales at 307.8 pounds. By height, this is the
third-tallest line of the Stoops era. The 2002 and
2003 lines both measured 77.2 inches.

Filling in on Phil
At 6-8, Phil Loadholt is tied as the tallest football
player on record at Oklahoma, and stands to be the
tallest starter. The only previous player at 6-8 was
Chris Watkins, recruited in 1988 from Amarillo (Texas)
HS. Watkins lettered in 1991, but never started. There
have been 17 OU players at 6-7 (for research, only
measurements from a player’s final season at
Oklahoma were used).

About the Sooner Defense

• Oklahoma has forced at least one turnover
in 94 of Bob Stoops’ 105 games and has at least
one interception in 70 of the last 92 games. The Sooners
have multiple picks in 26 of their last 61 outings.
• Opponents completed 50 percent or more of their
passes in less than half of their games against Stoops-coached
OU teams -- 50 times in 105 games.
• Foes scored less than 14 points in 48 of the
games.
• Oklahoma has nine shutouts under its current
head coach. Opponents failed to score more than seven
points 28 times and scored less than 14 in 53 games.
• Last season, only two of the 14 opponents reached
their scoring average in games against Oklahoma and
just two were able to exceed their average total yardage
figure. After game three, only one team exceeded its
scoring average and none met their yardage number.

Very Hands-On
Last year, Oklahoma defenders touched the ball 93 times
in the form of 61 pass deflections, 18 interceptions
and 14 fumble recoveries. Over a 14-game schedule,
a Sooner defensive player touched the ball an average
of 6.6 times per game and claimed 2.3 takeaways per
game.
• Players who accounted for 13 of the team’s
18 interceptions last season return for 2007. The same
is true for 11 of the 14 fumble recoveries.

Stoops Era Staple: Run Defense
Nineteen times, Bob Stoops-coached Oklahoma teams have
held opponents under 40 rushing yards in a game. Four
times the total has resulted in negative yards. Last
season, thanks in part to five sacks, the Sooners limited
Baylor to -48 yards on the ground. That was the best
single-game rushing defense performance by any team
in the nation in 2006 and the best by an Oklahoma team
during the Stoops Era.
• OU has ranked no worse than 23rd in national
rushing defense over the last seven seasons. Three
times in that span it ranked among the top 10 and six
times it was among the top 20.

Secondary Improvement was Primary
Oklahoma made substantial improvement in the defensive
secondary as a young group from 2005 remained relatively
young in 2006, but much more experienced. In 2007,
10 of the 11 defensive backs who saw action, including
six of the seven who drew starts, return. The only
one who is not back is Jason Carter, who started one
game last season. Here are some examples of how the
defensive backs improved from 2005 to 2006 ...
• In 2005, Oklahoma defensive backs accounted
for 23 of 47 pass break-ups, or 48%. In 2006, that
number jumped to 35 of 61 for 57%. In 2005, the Sooner
secondary had six of the team’s 13 interceptions
for 46%. In 2006, it had 14 out of the 18 for 78%.

About the Sooner Special
Teams

Oklahoma’s
special teams under Bob Stoops ...
• There have been 24 special teams TD, including
17 in the last 54 regular season games. Those 17 came
via five different kinds of plays -- 10 punt returns,
two faked field goals, two blocked punts, two kickoff
returns and a faked punt. The special teams also own
one safety in that span.
• In total, Oklahoma has returned six kickoffs
and 14 punts for TDs on Stoops’ watch (since
1999).
• The Sooners have blocked 20 kicks.

Many Happy Returns
Information on returns during the Stoops era ...
• Kickoff Returns -- 48 returns of 25 yards or
more with six touchdowns.
• Punt Returns -- 44 returns of 15 or more yards
with 14 touchdowns.
• Interception Returns -- 59 returns of 10 or
more yards with 17 touchdowns.
• Fumble Returns -- Three returns of 15 or more
yards with three touchdowns.

Got-R-Covered
Opposing teams have found it difficult to return any
kind of kick against Oklahoma.
• Over the last three seasons, Oklahoma’s
average rank in NCAA kickoff return coverage was 10th.
Oklahoma’s “worst” season-ending
national ranking in that category came in 2005 (No.
15). The 2004 team ranked No. 4. Last season, the Sooners
ranked 13th and gave up just 17.4 yards per return.
The longest return by an opponent was 34 yards. Prior
to Bob Stoops’ arrival, opposing teams had averaged
at least 22 yards per kickoff return in five straight
seasons. Since he arrived, the best opposing average
was 18.9 in 2001.
• Oklahoma has ranked among the top 10 in punt
return defense in five of the last seven seasons. Last
season, the team ranked No. 9 as opponents could muster
just 4.2 yards per punt return. The longest punt return
by an opposing player was 14 yards. The 2006 campaign
marked the third in a row in which the Sooners held
their opponents to less than 5.0 yards per punt return.

Two-Headed Punter
Oklahoma used two punters last season and both return.
• Michael Cohen handled the long kicks and averaged
41.0 yards on 51 attempts. He had a long of 75 yards
and another of 72. Nine of his kicks traveled at least
50 yards and he spread those long boots over six games.
• Mike Knall kicked on a short field and averaged
39.7 yards per boot with nine of his 11 tries downed
inside the 20. He had only one touchback.

Sooners Have Hart-ley
K Garrett Hartley was one of three finalists for the
Lou Groza Award and is on the watch list for that award
again this year ...
• Hartley was 19-of-20 on field goals and and
49-of-50 on PATs in 2006. His lone field goal miss
was a blocked kick at Oregon. He kicked off 78 times
with 31 touchbacks.
• His field goal made percentage of .950 was tops
in the nation among kickers with at least 10 makes.
He made his last 11 attempts of the season.
• Hartley ranked No. 20 nationally in field goals
made per game with 1.36 and was No. 21 in scoring with
7.57 points per game.
• Hartley made a career-high four field goals
at Oregon.
• Hartley has three career makes of 50 yards or
longer. His long last season was 46 yards, which he
accomplished twice.

Oklahoma Head Coach Bob
Stoops

History is one tough customer at Oklahoma. The tradition,
so rich and so long-standing, is as daunting as it
is impressive. To be among the best at Oklahoma is
to be among the best in college football.

Such dramatics are lost on Bob Stoops. The Sooner
head coach befriended the would-be albatross of OU’s
successful past from his first day on campus and remains
steadfastly focused on tomorrow and the championship
it holds.

It falls then to the observers and experts of the
game to define Stoops’ impact. Rarely have the
pundits had it so easy.

Under Stoops, Oklahoma has won 87 games (86-19),
spent 69 consecutive weeks in the national rankings,
played in seven bowl games, four of the BCS variety,
and captured three Big 12 crowns. His 2000 team won
the national championship. On a playing field leveled
by scholarship limits and parity, this era stares down
the Oklahoma standard and does not blink.

The achievement dulls the memory of what Stoops
inherited. When he arrived in Norman, the proud Sooner
program was five years removed from a winning record,
four from bowl play. Those atypical days of angst are
so forgotten now that they might as well be mentioned
with the land rush and dust bowl.

Stoops has been characterized as a grounded family
man, brilliant big-game coach, relentless recruiter,
disciplined leader and a person with uncommon perspective.
His success emanates from a disciplined style true
to his roots in the Steel Valley of Ohio, but he is
far from inflexible. The principles to which he holds
are the tried and true axioms of the sport … mixed
with cutting edge strategy and an appreciation for
the calculated risk.

During his time, OU has produced record–setting
passers and receivers, three 1,000-yard rushers, suffocating
defense and special teams units that rank among the
most dynamic in the land. Every facet has been impacted.

His players have snagged 16 national awards, including
the 2003 Heisman Trophy won by Jason White. There have
been 58 academic honorees, 53 All-Big 12 players, 22
All-Americans and 32 NFL draft choices.

Stoops has won a total of 10 national coach of the
year awards and has been Big 12 Coach of the year in
three of his six campaigns in Norman.

This is one of the finest coaches in the history
of one of college football’s most storied traditions.

The son of a coach, Stoops was a four-year starter
at Iowa. He began his coaching career in 1983 as a
volunteer in the Hawkeye program under Hayden Fry.
He worked through the ranks until he became co-defensive
coordinator at Kansas State (1991-95) during Bill Snyders
rein.

With the Wildcats, he played a key role in an impressive
turnaround. During his final four seasons there, K-State
was 35-12 with three bowl appearances. Eventually,
he left for Florida and a three-year stint as Steve
Spurrier’s defensive coordinator. In 1996, he
was part of a national championship team. It was with
the Gators that the spotlight found Stoops and made
him one of the hottest names in the profession.

Stoops, who was born Sept. 9, 1960, in Youngstown,
Ohio, graduated from Iowa in 1983 with a degree in
marketing. He and his wife, Carol, have three children:
daughter, Mackenzie, and twin sons, Drake and Isaac.

Individual Player Notes

LB
Lewis Baker: Started seven games at SS in ‘05,
then moved back to LB in the spring.

DT Cory Bennett: In the rotation in the deep defensive
line ... started the 2005 opener.

OT Branndon Braxton: The starter at right tackle,
he started three games at that position last year ...
from the same hometown as Bob Stoops -- Youngstown,
Ohio.

WR Quentin Chaney: Had two receptions for 26 yards
while playing in six games last season.

FB Matt Clapp: Spent most of ‘05 on special
teams ... competing for starting FB job.

SS Keenan Clayton: Redshirted last season, but the
frontrunner at strong safety now.

DT Steven Coleman: Stellar off-season, maturation
vaulted him to the top of the depth chart.

C Jon Cooper: Missed the last two games last season
after suffering an injury at Texas Tech ... had won
the starting center job before going down.

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